1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910813609203321

Autore

Ball Philip <1962->

Titolo

Shapes : Nature's Patterns : a tapestry in three parts / / Philip Ball

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Oxford, : Oxford University Press, 2009

ISBN

0-19-161985-X

1-282-19937-4

0-19-152873-0

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (308 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations (some color)

Disciplina

500.201185

Soggetti

Pattern formation (Biology)

Pattern formation (Physical sciences)

Chaotic behavior in systems

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

"Nature's patterns is a trilogy composed of Shapes, Flow, and Branches."

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references ([295]-301) and index.

Nota di contenuto

The shapes of things : pattern and form -- Lessons of the beehive : building with bubbles -- Making waves : stripes in a test tube -- Written on the body : hiding, warning, and mimicking -- Rhythms of the wild : crustal communities -- How does your garden grow? : the mathematics of a daisy -- Unfolding the embryo : the formation of body plans.

Sommario/riassunto

Patterns are everywhere in nature--in the ranks of clouds in the sky, the stripes of an angelfish, the arrangement of petals in flowers. Where does this order and regularity come from? As Philip Ball reveals in Nature's Patterns: A Tapestry in Three Parts, this order creates itself. The patterns we see come from self-organization. Indeed, scientists have found that there is a pattern-forming tendency inherent in the basic structure and processes of nature, whether living or non-living, so that from a few simple themes, and the repetition of simple rules, endless beautiful variations can arise.